Muscles, spinal compression and low back pain

Most people don’t truly understand how muscles work and their relationship to the spinal column, so don’t fully understand their relationship to spine health.

The spinal column is a delicately balanced stack of vertebrae and discs that are held in their proper locations and orientations by muscles, and muscles are only capable of pulling (being in tension), they are not capable of pushing (being in compression). So in order for the various muscle groups to effectively do their job of keeping the finely balanced stack of vertebrae and discs in place, they are always exerting a small degree of “balanced” tension on the vertebrae which intern exert modest compressional forces on the discs.

Additional compressional force on the discs is created by gravitational loading created by your upper torso when you are upright, but the highest degree of compressional force is created when you bend over. The reason for this is that as the various muscles in the front of your body contract, increasing their tension as they pull your torso forward, opposing muscles located at your back increase their tension in order to hold your torso back.

The thing that is interesting is that there has been no increase in gravitational forces, i.e your torso did not get heavier, yet the compressional force on the discs raises alarmingly. What actually happens is the tensional forces generated by the opposing muscles as one tensions to lever the torso forward and the other tensions to keep it in check create much higher compressional forces on the discs than normal gravitational loading ever does. But, this is normal and the body for the most part is designed to manage it.

But, when a muscle is strained, the bodies natural reaction is to isolate the muscle from movement (which we sense as a stiff muscle). Since keeping the balanced stack in place requires “balanced tension”, other muscles have to be enlisted to replace the strained one. The enlisted muscles are attached at different locations and are not pulling in exactly the same direction the strained one was so they are not capable of creating that perfectly balanced tension, so put the delicately balanced spinal stacked at risk.

What were safe bending movements with a healthy back can be potentially damaging to a back with a strained muscle. As you bend forward and the muscle groups tension up to carry the levered torso, the enlisted muscles pull on the vertebrae differently than the strained muscle did and under these high loading stresses can result in damage to discs and/or create spinal misalignment.

When you strain a back muscle the body is going to enlist another muscle to fill the role and as a result your spinal health will be at risk.  Continued activity is generally accepted as the best medicine, but as we have seen, the combination of a strained back muscle and high levels of spinal loading created during some activities can potentially result in additional damage.

So, what’s the answer?

There is a new modality of treatment for low back pain, “ambulatory spinal unloading”. This new treatment relieves or reduces loading forces on the spine but allows the user the ability to carry on their normal active life style. Ambulatory spinal unloading provides the low back pain sufferer the ability to mend and heal in a pain reduced or pain free environment without the risk of additional damage.

Ambulatory Low back pain relief?

What is the benefit of being ambulatory when it comes to the treatment of low back pain?

There are many forms of chronic low back pain treatment and broadly they could be lumped into four modalities;

1. Stationary treatments such as inversion tables, moon boots, TENS, traditional traction, electrical stimulation, etc
2. Oral and topical medications
3. Exercise
4. Surgery

Historically low back pain sufferers have relied on a combination of two or more of these modalities to try to find relief. There are pros and cons to all four modalities; The stationary treatments may offer temporary relief, but because of their stationary nature are typically of short treatment duration with a similar short pain relief cycle. The oral medications mask pain but often negatively effect motor skills and so limit mobility while not really addressing the root cause. The topical medications may produce pain relief but again do nothing to address the underlying problems. Exercise may help, but with many spinal ailments it can also aggravate the situation and increase the level of pain, especially with crushed discs or impinged nerves and finally, surgery, which is considered by everyone to be the last resort treatment, often with problematic outcomes.

Ideally the best treatment modality would be one in which the low back pain sufferer was able to carry on their normal daily routine in a truly and non chemically altered, pain free environment. Aqua therapy comes closest to providing this modality but because you have to be in a pool, does not allow mobility. The treatment modality that does offer a normal daily routine in a non chemically altered, pain free environment is “ambulatory spinal unloading”.

By definition, ambulatory refers to being able to walk about and not be bedridden and spinal unloading means reducing the load being carried by the spine. In the case of low back pain this means reducing upper torso weight from the lumbar vertebrae and discs which in turn relieve any pressure they may be applying to nerves, the root cause of much low back pain.

The ambulatory spinal unloading modality of treatment is new, but for anyone that has chronic low back pain and has tried any or all of the typical treatments listed above they will immediately understand the huge benefits it has over all modalities that have come before it.

Ambulatory spinal unloading is truly a unique and revolutionary non-invasive low back pain treatment modality that will prove a benefit not only to the low back pain sufferer, but also to the chiropractors, physiotherapists, surgeons etc that are trying their best to assist the millions of  low back pain sufferers.